Report on taxonomy and bibliography

1

REPORT ON TAXONOMY
AND BIBLIOGRAPHY
by
The Committee on Taxonomy and Bibliography
Harvey Mann, Chairperson
Concordia University
The Charge to the Committee is as follows:
(1) To establish a workable and complete
taxonomy for the subject of accounting
history.
(2) To determine significant publications that
should be included under each of the
taxonomic groups.
(3) To investigate the feasibility of devising a
computer program to encompass a
continuously up-dated bibliography by
taxonomic group
(4) To periodically attempt to publish such a
bibliography.
During the past year the emphasis was on
completing Part (1) of the above charge. In
attempting to accomplish this aim two
questionnaires were mailed to 23 members of the
Academy who had expressed interest in the project.
The response rate to the questionnaires was
approximately 50%.
As can be expected when more than one
academic is involved, no clear concensus emerged
from the responses. Nevertheless, if progress is to
be made, decisions must be taken recommending a
six digit code that could be used to classify
accounting history publications. This code would
give the knowledgeable reader some vital
information about the publications. Of course, this
would be a reference only and would have to be
backed up by more detailed data such as appears on
a Library of Congress (L.C.) catalogue card.
The details of the classification scheme follow:
1st digit Alphabetic
To indicate type of publication,
i.e. periodical, monograph,
book, etc.
To indicate geographical area
(this follows the method used
for L.C. cutter number
procedure for Class H
classification)
4th digit Alphabetic
2nd & 3rd
digits
Alphabetic (2nd)
and Numeric (3rd)
5th & 6th
digits
Alphabetic (5th)
and Numeric (6th)
Chronological indication-A
letter would represent a century
or perhaps several centuries.
This one digit would therefore
give 26 different time intervals.
The major topic of the work.
This scheme follows the L.C.
classification for HF 5601-5686.
A reworking of HF 5681
(Special Accounts and Books)
and HF 5686 (Business or
Activity) would be required.
The number of digits in this code number can be
expanded, ad infinitum, to include additional data
such as date of publication, author's name,
language used, etc., etc., but it is felt that the six
digit code is sufficient for anyone to find out
whether further investigation is worthwhile.
This report is being submitted in the hope that it
will be discussed at the Annual Meeting with some
concensus being reached as to its adequacies or
deficiencies. The three latter parts of the charge can
not be approached until this part is finalized.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Comments concerning this
committee report should be addressed either to the
editor of the NOTEBOOK or to Professor Harvey
Mann at Concordia University prior to this year's
annual meeting on August 6.
1981 ACADEMY ANNUAL MEETING
The 1981 annual meeting of the Academy will
be held at the Executive House Hotel in Chicago on
Thursday, August 6, 1981 from 9:00 a.m. until
10:30 a.m. in the Illinois Room. Prior to the
meeting, the trustees of the Academy will meet for
a working breakfast in the Wacker Room at 7:30
a.m. The Executive House is located near the Hyatt
Regency, the hotel where the American
Accounting Association meeting is being held. All
members attending the AAA meeting are urged to
attend the Academy meeting. Be sure and put the
date and time on your calendar right away.
The Accounting Historians Notebook, Spring, 1981 9